Migraine treatment trends – preventatives only?
Question:
Yeah, Anna. I guess you’ve noticed you’re not alone. I haven’t found a preventive that reliably works for me, though I’ve found a large number that give me unacceptable side effects. In your place, with only 5 migraine days a month, I think it’s ridiculous to continue with preventives unless somebody can suggest one you haven’t tried that relates directly to the hormonal-type migraine you so obviously have. I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding a doc — even a GP — who agrees with that position. The abortives are generally accepted to be OK when used fewer than two times a week. Print out your message and show it to your new doc, and explain that your whole newsgroup – a brilliant bunch personally dedicated to migraine research! — agrees with you…. –Julianne
Response:
I really need some cheerin’ up today. I’ve been awake most of the night, slept maybe 1 hour because my doctor says I need to take medicine every day to prevent the migraines I get instead of just treating them when they happen. Apparently this is the new philosophy in management of migraines, right? If only it worked for me.
I feel your pain (not that that will help you much!). My headaches are a lot more frequent than yours – usually 3 times a week (and a small one all the time), but I’ve still had the problem of weighing the disease with the cure. I have to admit, some of the drugs & cures I’ve tried (and I’ve tried some you have, ie Sansert) seemed to help a little, but even with headaches as frequent as mine thus far the medicine has been worse. Living in the city I’ve had access to an actual headache clinic. That doctor has had a balanced view as far as prevantative and – what’s the word? Whatever – taken-at-the-time medication goes. Of course, it’s been arm twisting to look at things OTHER than drugs – ie physical problems (not chemical), alternative treatment, etc. I’m – well, relieved to hear that someone else has gone through such a gammet of drugs and turned them down. Sometimes it almost makes you feel guilty! Jim (-; (cheer up- you have company!) Before you buy.
Response:
After almost 4 months on Paxil it started to give me daily headaches. I’ m weaning off slowly now. Preventatives don’t work for most people. Imitrex [tryptan] worked for 2 years for me when I had a migraine. Now Maxalt works very well and faster. I’m not one for preventatives for most migraine sufferers; they don’t seem to work and you’re taking meds every day!!! If I get 3-10 headaches a month I’d rather take 3-10 Maxalt [expensive, but my doc has given me samples] then take 30 pills a day which have side effects and don’t work anyway and then you need a tryptan anyway!
Response:
You might look into the Michigan Head Pain & Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, MI (ww.mhni.com). My daughter goes there. They have been around for over 20 years. They are the most caring people. With all your past treatment I believe they could help you.
Response:
There is a lot of pressure to avoid opiates, which relieve the pain but don’t really shut down the migraine, so docs try to prescribe some combination of prophylactic treatment in the hopes of decreasing the frequency or severity or both so that it can be more easily managed by the meds used in acute attacks. Trouble is, it only works for about 3 people in 8 and virtually never works completely. The triptans (Imitrex etc.) are a Godsend for many, but not all. If Naproxen did bad things to your stomach, you might try negotiating with your physician for either Celebrex or Vioxx, which are safer for the stomach by a very large margin, or for taking misaprostol (Cytotec) with the naproxen to protect the stomach. * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
Response:
Yes, I know what you mean. For so many years, we keep thinking, "maybe THIS time" …. and then there’s another and another time, & nobody seems to have our magic bullet, while all around us others seem to be finding miracle cures. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been disappointed so many times. Sometimes I think the disappointment is one of the worst parts of it.
Response:
Thanks. Interesting site they have. It would be really difficult for me to go since they are over 3 hours away from me and I have small children, but I might consider it if I could arrange for my husband to be off work and make the trip with me. It’s really hard for me to think about yet another clinic and yet another doctor since I’ve been disappointed so many times. Sometimes I think the disappointment is one of the worst parts of it. — Anna in Michigan annap1atlycosmail.com
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You might look into the Michigan Head Pain & Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, MI (ww.mhni.com). My daughter goes there. They have been around for over 20 years. They are the most caring people. With all your past treatment I believe they could help you.
Response:
Thanks so much, Kadee. Hugs right back at’cha. It helps just knowing someone else understands what I’m going through. — Anna in Michigan annap1atlycosmail.com
Response:
Thanks Debbie. I’m also using the progesterone cream (Emerita progest) and it has really helped my insomnia and also my PMS somewhat also. I haven’t seen any improvement in the migraines though. Of course, I’ve had migraines since the age of 6 and am now 39, so I’m a tough case. I guess my worst trouble right now is that I lost my good neuro when we moved. He would prescribe triptans and fioricet and I never missed a day of work from migraines because I had my meds handy. This doc I have now is a general practitioner, and since I have the HMO, it’s difficult to get a referral to a neuro. We are thinking of moving, hopefully in the next few months, to another town and I will definitely be changing docs if that happens. There aren’t too many to choose from here that are in my HMO network. My doc now will not prescribe any type of meds for PMS, seems to me like he doesn’t believe it exists. Hopefully I’ll have better luck with my next doctor – really makes me appreciate how fortunate I was when I lived in Florida and had a good neuro. — Anna in Michigan annap1atlycosmail.com
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Oh Anna – You sound so much like me! I have also been through so many preventatives (anticonvulsants, SSRI’s and calcium and betablockers) and SO many side effects!! Like you, most of my symptoms occurs at PMS and midcycle. So, I have quit the preventatives and use T-3 (codeine) about twice a month for the worst ha’s and Phenergan at the first sign of nausea which helps me very much. I am also on Klonopin and BuSpar for anxiety and seizure-like syndrome and not sure if it helps with migraine too much but it gives me no bad effects and eases the anxiety so I take them. Two other things I am trying are vitamin supplements 300mg magnesium and 400mg Riboflavin as suggested by my Neuro. A contoversial product I use is OTC progesterone cream which I think is helpful to decrease the PMS symptoms and aura though I still get a pretty nasty hormone headache but it usually responds to the T-3. Birth control pills and Provera made me feel terrible!! The other treatment that gyn uses for PMS migraine is AD’s but I have run the gamut of those and just can’t stand the effects. Paxil was a very difficult one for me as was Zoloft and Serzone. So for now, I just can’t see using preventatives that make me feel bad every day when I can feel "normal" much of the time and just medicate when I have the migraine symptoms. If the migraines were more frequent – I would probably explore more preventatives but not now. Take care and hope you find an approach to help you feel better. Debbie << * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I really need some cheerin’ up today. Can’t get messages except on Deja, server acting up, and I feel yukky. I’ve been awake most of the night, slept maybe 1 hour because my doctor says I need to take medicine every day to prevent the migraines I get instead of just treating them when they happen. Apparently this is the new philosophy in management of migraines, right? If only it worked for me. I am in the process of looking for a new doc, but it’s hard for me to put the energy needed into it since I’m thinking maybe most the doctors are in this preventatives only mind-set now. I have been on Sansert – did nothing but make me sick, birth control pills – made me constantly nauseated and made the migraines much much worse, Progesterone shot – made me bleed 3 weeks straight, off 2 days and then another period, yuk, didn’t help the migraines either, Elavil – gained 40 pounds in 3 months, however did help the severity of the migraines just slightly, Elavil/Naprosyn combo – nearly ate a hole in my stomach, Blocadren, which made my already very low blood pressure so low I nearly passed out every time I stood up, Pamelor – made me psycho, seeing things at night that weren’t there that I nearly got a gun to shoot at, ….. and the latest started yesterday, Paxil – awake all night, nauseated, feel like I drank 500 cups of coffee, and it actually gave me a headache right after I took it, within 30 minutes!!! I feel horrible and I can’t think straight. I haven’t yet gotten up my courage to take any more of them, even though he sent me home with a 5 week supply of samples! He says the side effects will probably go away with continued use, but I can’t quit my job in the meantime while I wait. I just hate taking medicine every day when I don’t have a headache every day. It just seems overkill to me since I follow a regular pattern of a 3 day migraine at my period and a 2 day migraine in the middle of the month when I ovulate. I can get them other times but they are mild ones unless I do something to trigger them like losing sleep or missing a meal. Now I’ll probably have a headache today since I didn’t sleep last night! — Anna in Michigan annap1atlycosmail.com Anna,
I won’t bore you – you’ve been through enough. I have a list of preventative drugs I’ve tried over the years as long as my arm. Yes, SOME doc. who are living in the past think prevention only is the treatment for migraine. There is a new way of thinking, in fact I just saw a publication from the Mayo clinic stating that it is the physicians responsibility to treat the pain. Then, if the patient and doc. want to experiement with preventitives go ahead, but treat the pain first. Please keep looking for another compassionate doctor. I know it’s expensive, but don’t let them tell you that’s the only way while you suffer. After years of suffering I get relief most of the time from the Imitrex, Zoloft, Amerge type of drugs. When they don’t work by themselves percocet or fioricet w/codeine helps. You have a right to feel as well as you can, please know help is out there. Best wishes, codeee Before you buy.
Response:
It is nice but sad to see that so many of us are going through the same thing. I get mine usually once a month and they last 5 to 7 days without a break. I have tried the beta blockers but like many I don’t like taking something when I feel fine. I haven’t not yet found anything to knock the headache out once it begins. I have discovered a huge list of triggers but basically I believe it is hormonal. My mom’s stopped after menopause. Has anyone tried any alternative medicine like massage therapy or chiropractics? I am on day 3 as I write this. Thanks, Sharon in MN
Response:
It seems i have a strangely different situation. i have a doctor who is obviously overworked, and who just up and believed me when i told him about my migraines. (this after i had been rudly shot down by another doctor; "They’re just on amitryptaline as a preventative, maxalt to stop the oncoming migraine, and Tylenol 3 as a pain killer. They all seem to be working together ok, with few side effects (although i still have some). do other doctors not give preventatives and pain killers hand in hand? i wish my doctor seemed more interested or concerned, but frankly, at this point, i’ll take what i can get. Good luck to you all, may at least today be a better day. Natalia After almost 4 months on Paxil it started to give me daily headaches. I’ m weaning off slowly now. Preventatives don’t work for most people. Imitrex [tryptan] worked for 2 years for me when I had a migraine. Now Maxalt works very well and faster. I’m not one for preventatives for most migraine sufferers; they don’t seem to work and you’re taking meds every day!!! If I get 3-10 headaches a month I’d rather take 3-10 Maxalt [expensive, but my doc has given me samples] then take 30 pills a day which have side effects and don’t work anyway and then you need a tryptan anyway!
– And did they get you to trade your heros for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change? And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead-role in a cage?
Response:
Tried it all…tried it all. Biofeedback (helped get UW’s nursing school their grant from NIH for a biofeedback clinic after showing how I can raise my hand temp 15 degrees in 5 mins – "Let’s see the magic pinky," the NIH evaluator said afterwards). Massage, acupuncture, special diets of one sort and another, including two diligent trials of the "elimination diet," exercise, relaxation, 5HTP (that worked for four months, after which I was in worse trouble than ever), riboflavin & magnesium, etc. I guess we all have to try everything that anybody ever found helpful. I’ve just begun acupuncture again (which I quit before because it gave me an awful migraine each time – but I was working then, and now I’m unemployable). Do I sound irritable? No, no, I’m really into acceptance lately. Good luck to you. –Julianne
Response:
showing how I can raise my hand temp 15 degrees in 5 mins –
You can do that? Wow! And you weren’t able to affect your HAs by doing it? I always figured it didn’t work for me becuase I was unable to make my hand temperature change at all.
Response:
Hot hands AND a migraine…that’s me! –J
Response:
Oh Anna – You sound so much like me! I have also been through so many preventatives (anticonvulsants, SSRI’s and calcium and betablockers) and SO many side effects!! Like you, most of my symptoms occurs at PMS and midcycle. So, I have quit the preventatives and use T-3 (codeine) about twice a month for the worst ha’s and Phenergan at the first sign of nausea which helps me very much. I am also on Klonopin and BuSpar for anxiety and seizure-like syndrome and not sure if it helps with migraine too much but it gives me no bad effects and eases the anxiety so I take them. Two other things I am trying are vitamin supplements 300mg magnesium and 400mg Riboflavin as suggested by my Neuro. A contoversial product I use is OTC progesterone cream which I think is helpful to decrease the PMS symptoms and aura though I still get a pretty nasty hormone headache but it usually responds to the T-3. Birth control pills and Provera made me feel terrible!! The other treatment that gyn uses for PMS migraine is AD’s but I have run the gamut of those and just can’t stand the effects. Paxil was a very difficult one for me as was Zoloft and Serzone. So for now, I just can’t see using preventatives that make me feel bad every day when I can feel "normal" much of the time and just medicate when I have the migraine symptoms. If the migraines were more frequent – I would probably explore more preventatives but not now. Take care and hope you find an approach to help you feel better. Debbie << * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
Response:
I really need some cheerin’ up today. Can’t get messages except on Deja, server acting up, and I feel yukky. I’ve been awake most of the night, slept maybe 1 hour because my doctor says I need to take medicine every day to prevent the migraines I get instead of just treating them when they happen. Apparently this is the new philosophy in management of migraines, right? If only it worked for me. I am in the process of looking for a new doc, but it’s hard for me to put the energy needed into it since I’m thinking maybe most the doctors are in this preventatives only mind-set now. I have been on Sansert – did nothing but make me sick, birth control pills – made me constantly nauseated and made the migraines much much worse, Progesterone shot – made me bleed 3 weeks straight, off 2 days and then another period, yuk, didn’t help the migraines either, Elavil – gained 40 pounds in 3 months, however did help the severity of the migraines just slightly, Elavil/Naprosyn combo – nearly ate a hole in my stomach, Blocadren, which made my already very low blood pressure so low I nearly passed out every time I stood up, Pamelor – made me psycho, seeing things at night that weren’t there that I nearly got a gun to shoot at, ….. and the latest started yesterday, Paxil – awake all night, nauseated, feel like I drank 500 cups of coffee, and it actually gave me a headache right after I took it, within 30 minutes!!! I feel horrible and I can’t think straight. I haven’t yet gotten up my courage to take any more of them, even though he sent me home with a 5 week supply of samples! He says the side effects will probably go away with continued use, but I can’t quit my job in the meantime while I wait. I just hate taking medicine every day when I don’t have a headache every day. It just seems overkill to me since I follow a regular pattern of a 3 day migraine at my period and a 2 day migraine in the middle of the month when I ovulate. I can get them other times but they are mild ones unless I do something to trigger them like losing sleep or missing a meal. Now I’ll probably have a headache today since I didn’t sleep last night! — Anna in Michigan annap1atlycosmail.com
